Pages

Monday, 10 January 2011

Body Image and Health

A certain Z list celebrity whose only claim to fame was a short appearance on Big Brother has been creating a furore on Twitter this week by advertising his "anorexia" pill. He is claiming that only size zero girls are sexy and that by using his pill anyone bigger than this can have managed anorexia to look good. What message is this to give to girls (and boys)? Anorexia kills and is not a way to look sexy just unhealthy.

As a mum to young children I feel that I have to teach them to be healthy and to keep in shape without taking it to extremes. My daughter is naturally very skinny and has no fat on her whatsoever. My son is more of a well built child and weighs more than his older sister but again has no obvious fat and is perfectly proportioned. If I let them they would happily eat fast food and crisps, chocolate etc all day. As a parent I have to try and limit their intake of "bad" foods and encourage to eat healthily.

Yes I am currently on a "diet" and trying to lose weight but that is because my weight is not in the officially healthy BMI range of 18-25. I once went down to the lower end of this scale and it didn't suit me as I looked quite gaunt. My daughter doesn't want a skinny mummy she wants a cuddly one. I keep reassuring her that I just want to be slim and healthy and not skinny. It is a tightrope to walk wanting my children to have a healthy attitude towards their bodies without being paranoid about dieting or even skipping meals to look "good". This is a good way of encouraging me to sort my own act out and to stick to a healthier lifestyle of both eating and exercise.

As parents do you worry that your children are or will be pressurised by the media or celebrities to be unheathily slim? Should things like "anorexia" pills be illegal and anyone marketing them jailed?